Creating New Citation Styles

If you cannot find an example of the type of source material you want to cite, and if you have exhausted other resources (including The Chicago Manual of Style and rreiser@hbs.edu), then just cite all of the details that would help a reader find the source easily. Think about the four “W”s:

WHO created the work, WHAT is the title, WHEN was it published, and WHERE can one find it?

The following examples show citations that were created without templates but that are precise and easy to follow:

Clarence Saunders,“Documentary Evidence about PigglyWiggly,” Harvard pre-1920 social history/business preservation microfilm project, available from Historical Collections, Baker Library, Harvard Business School, Microfilm HD Box #136.

Author's e-mail survey of students from MBA class of 2007, November 12–15, 2006 , Harvard Business School , Boston , MA .

Caroline J. Ferguson and Barbara A. Schaal,“Phylogeography of Phlox pilosa subsp. ozarkana,” poster presented at the 16th International Botanical Congress, St. Louis , 1999.

David Hanson,“The Provenance of the Ruskin-Allen Letters (computer printout, Department of English, Southeastern University, 2001), p. 16.

When you are citing unusual source materials, don't worry about following a particular format;

instead, just list all of the details that would help readers locate the information quickly. It is always better to provide readers with too much rather than too little source information.

Permission Requirements

If you plan to publish a paper or distribute it widely (e.g., on a Web site),and if the paper contains the following kinds of information, you may need permission from the copyright holder:

• Graphical items (charts,graphs,maps,photographs,tables,etc.)

• Complete text items (e.g.,an entire article)

• Excerpts of text or data

Be sure to check the copyright holder's permission requirements before redistributing any of their information outside the classroom.